Moon Tortured (Sky Brooks Series Book 1) by McKenzie Hunter Read Free Book Online Page B

“yet” almost unnoticed. “Yeah, you really rub him the wrong way,” he admitted, shaking his head and running his fingers through his hair.
    “In my defense, it seems like there are few things that don’t rub Ethan and Sebastian the wrong way. They are a bit high strung,” I stated.
    He grinned but looked uncomfortable with this conversation.
    “I didn’t mean to enrage them; I just wanted to go home.” Or anywhere other than here.
    “Whether you intended to or not, you really pissed them off. Try not to do that often—okay?” he advised, and though he was still smiling, his voice held a very serious undertone—a warning.
    I nodded.
    Steven stayed until my yawning, though unintentional, became contagious. He excused himself for the night.
     

     
    I couldn’t sleep that night; instead, I decided to take my own personal tour of the house. It had come to a noticeable calm as I walked quietly in my fluffy purple print socks that matched my shirt and blended with my plum fleece pants. I rarely wore pajamas; in fact, I only owned four pairs and they all paid homage to an obsession with my favorite chocolate treat wrapped in a hard shell, M&Ms. They were comfortable and utterly ridiculous—I loved them. I usually wore them the night before a full moon. It gave me something to smile about before I had to go to that place of darkness.
    The flashlight on my phone lit the way as I tiptoed down the midnight hallway, down a different set of stairs, at the other end of the hallway. Joan brought me back to the room this way but I wanted to explore some of the rooms we passed. The house was huge. Eventually, I came to the kitchen. Beautiful, dark, ceramic tiles covered the large open space. Stainless steel appliances, large double oven and an island that was larger than our dining room filled the spacious room. To the left of the eat-in kitchen was a large dining area that comfortably seated twenty. How many people did they keep hostage—or “guests” at one time?
    Most of the doors were locked. I pushed into a couple of them with force, hoping the lock would give. I realized a locked door meant stay the hell out, but curiosity about these people trumped common courtesy. But the heavy doors wouldn’t budge. I don’t know what would make me think they would. In a house where they spared no expense, I doubt locks would be where they decided to cut corners. Several of the rooms had a fingerprint lock, keypad lock or both.
    Finally, I stumbled onto an unlocked room and I felt like I had hit the jackpot as I opened the double doors only to find a library. The smell of weathered paper, leather bindings and subtle musk of were-animals filled the space. It was a drab white room with large built-in shelves. The only colors in the room were the spines of the various books that populated the shelves. Most of the books had foreign titles and the others were denoted just by symbols. I wasn’t familiar with any of the books with English titles. On the far end of the room, tucked in the corner was a locked small cabinet. I tugged at it, hoping it was unlocked. It wasn’t.
    After scanning the titles of several books, I grabbed some of them along with the binder I found on the computer desk simply titled “VAMPIRES.” I sat at the conference table in the middle of the room. The first book was filled with enchantments, curses and spells detailing their purpose and their effects on faes, elves, vampires and were-animals. As I continued to read, my skin chilled. Faes? Elves? The idea of more beings I knew little of fueled my anxiety. I didn’t like this world that I had been pulled into, with creatures that went bump in the night that I didn’t even know existed—or how to stop.
    This library wasn’t to entertain but to inform, and it did just that. I tossed aside two books with symbols on them that I didn’t understand, and trying to figure it out was giving me a headache. I opened the “VAMPIRES” book ready to verse myself